‘Phil is an individual who, although intelligent and self-aware, can’t predict the weather’
By Joe Kovacs
Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog (Video screenshot)
With the world-famous Groundhog Day approaching Feb. 2, there’s a fresh effort to replace the animal used in the shadowy weather prognostication in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
And this time, PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is hoping the public flips literally for their new idea.
Each year on Feb. 2, during a time when groundhogs typically hibernate, a ceremony takes place to note if Phil will emerge and predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter if his shadow is seen.
The animal-rights activists wrote to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s president, Tom Dunkel, “offering to toss the club a giant coin if it agrees to send Phil to a reputable sanctuary. Should kindness prevail, the huge coin could easily replace him as the Pennsylvania town’s gimmick to draw in tourists.”
The group claims, “Every groundhog is someone,” noting the critters “are shy, solitary animals who socialize with other groundhogs only to choose a partner. They are skilled swimmers and climbers and create complex, multichambered burrows that even have separate ‘bathrooms.’